Are these the worst albums of all time?

Dawn Renton

Mr Blobby has beaten Justin Bieber to the unwanted title of worst album of all time according to a recent survey by Ziffit.com.

It may come as no surprise that Noel Edmonds’ weird sidekick from his 90s TV show Noel’s House Party topped the chart with his 1994 self-titled album, but what may come as a shock to music fans are the records that did make the hit list.

Surprisingly, Lou Reed is on the list - twice!

With a handful of 90s pop albums that we all would rather forget – yes, Vengaboys, Babylon Zoo and Aqua I’m looking at you – making the cut, there are a few that as left me bewildered as to why they were voted as the worst records ever written.

Case number one – Lou Reed’s ‘Metal Machine Music’ (1975). The fifth album by the American rocker reached no 20 on the list. It was a departure from Reed’s usual style and while it doesn’t actually feature any songs (okay, there are no songs whatsoever; it is just an hour or so of screechy feedback and guitar effects) he should be applauded for taking that risk and stepping out of his comfort zone to give us this album of weird sounds. C’mon, he gave us ‘Perfect Day and ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ so he can’t be all that bad.

Bob Dylan’s ‘Saved’ which was released in 1980 is at no 42. Really? Bob Dylan? His 20th studio album and the second in his Christian trilogy, may not be to everybody’s taste I will grant you that, but it still reached no 3 in the UK charts and no 24 in the States upon its release. It received mixed reviews from the critics with some believing that songs were “too religious” while others were a bit kinder and called it a “failed experiment”. Either way, it’s Bob Dylan and he shouldn’t be on this list. End of discussion.

The third album which doesn’t deserve the title of one of the worst albums of all time is Aerosmith’s ‘Pump’. Released in 1989, the tenth studio album by the American rockers features classic songs such as ‘Love in an Elevator’, ‘What It Takes’ and ‘Janie’s Got a Gun’. It was released to large critical acclaim with Q magazine saying “...it took a bunch of hoary, addled old stagers like Aerosmith to come up with the year’s best metal album”.

The band were – and still are – the reigning king of the hard rock double entendre. I vote that they should be stripped of their title of having one of the worst albums.

What would you take out and/or add? Did your favourite album make the list? I’m just happy that my beloved Rolling Stones didn’t make the list...